It's complicated
by FireboltShadow
Summary: James Potter II returns for his final year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Things don't go as he had planned, when he runs into an unlikely problem. Literally. When everything is flipped around, how is he to know what's right.
1. An unlikely start

It was an early morning in the first week of September, just after school had started in the busy halls of Hogwarts. Student's searching for friends from the past years, Rushing to their next classes hoping not to be late when their professor got to the room and started class when the sudden screech of shoes jolted around a corner and echoed off the high ceilings. That's when James Potter was seen rushing up the hall's to his Transfiguration class, He knew if he wasn't there in the next few moment's that Professor Lutner would have his ears the size of an elephants. He turned another sharp corner grabbing onto the end of a banister to the stair case and swung himself up the flight his book carrier smacking against him leg with a rhythmic 'Thump. thump, thump' to every step he skipped.

Suddenly their was a clatter of books and bodies and he collided with a small blonde who was trying to make her way down the steps to her class, was now sprawled across the third step of the staircase, going up. She let out a small groan when her back hit the step, half out of pain half out of annoyance as she looked at him with harsh eyes.

James fixed himself so he was leaning on his elbow with the other half of his body laid across a few stairs, bruises would be a sure factor to show on his ribs in the next few day's but at this point in time he didn't care. Looking up his eye's met the person who had been the unlucky contestant to have run into him today. Her eye's were set in a harsh, slightly frightening glare when his eyes locked glances with her. "Sorry," he stammered out as he stood to his feet again looking sprinting up the steps that separated him from her "I should have been watching where I -"

"Darn right you should have!" the blonde called at him as she stood to her feet swiftly bending down to pick up her book's and look back up at him "You aren't the only person in these halls!".

"Yes, I am aware of that but I was running late for class, Professor Lutner threatened to make my ears-" James said trying to calm or reason with the girl so she wouldn't be screeching at him and he could rightfully say sorry, Possibly even get to class only a few minutes late. Until he was cut off "Potter! I have passed you everyday in these halls for the past three years! I haven't once seen you on time!"

The girl was right, everyday since the middle of his first year four years ago he had been late. He had a great reason for it but the thing was if he told anyone, They would contact his mother and he would get a howler from everyone of his family members. Another voice filled the air as he broke out from his short thought and a boy who looked similar to the girl, The same pale complexion , pale gray eyes and blonde hair strode up to the stair's his eyes darting between the girl and James. "Is there a problem here?" he asked, as he moved closer to the girl his eye's burning into James as if he would be happy to hex him if he said the wrong thing. James turned to her again about to defend himself and explain when suddenly the girl cut him off mid sentence.

"Scorpius, I'm fine just get to class before flit.." her voice droned on to the boy as she explained what had happened, surprisingly she made it seem not so bad. Her voice had changed from the semi-freighting yell's to a almost quiet whisper. Her voice even made James who had been secretly freaking out over his being tardy to class and his parent's finding out his secret mid-night travels calm down. Her eye's once boring into him with fury were now calm and peaceful compared to before as if she had put a calming charm over all three of them with just her voice.

Scorpius turned to James and away from the girl "My father told me about you're father…How much trouble he had gotten into his first year's here.." he paused not to think of more to say about Harry Potter, The boy who saved the wizarding world but sacrificing his own life, then coming back to re-join the fight, but so that he wouldn't need to add that in to the lecture he was giving his own school mate. "stay away from my sister." the girl let out another sigh "Scorp-" she tried to say but her brother held up his hand almost to silence her. "Cissa, quiet."

Suddenly those calm eyes were gone again as quickly as they had come and she settled her books in her arms and stormed down the staircase to her next class, ignoring them both in the action. She disappeared around the corner at the bottom of the stair case and around the corner and neither boys eye's left her figure as she walked away. James thought about following her, he hadn't quite figured out why he would want to follow a girl who had just screamed his ear off but he took a step down until a hand was gripped halfway around his arm in a hold.

"I believe you're class is up the stair's not down them." Scorpius half hissed at him through a clenched jaw pulling James up a step until a sudden jolt from James' arm made him stumble back, The force of his pull made Scorpius trip and almost fall if he hadn't been so graceful on his feet.

"You have no bloody right to put your hands on me, Malfoy!" James announced.

"I have every damn right when you're following my younger sister!" he yelled at him and walked closer to him staring him down. "If I even catch you near her again," he begin but then stopped himself seeing a new professor in the school open her class room door and look out at the boys "Shouldn't the two of you be in class right now?" She looked at them both, authority coating her voice as Scorpius moved away from the brunette boy he had been hovering over.

"You are correct ma'am." He nodded half sneering at her with hate." We'll be on our way now." he turned giving one last glare to James before turning on his heels and striding swiftly down the hall past the short witch guarding her silent class of second year students. James turned walking away, He had no intention on attending his transfiguration class today, although, He did intend on seeing the short, blonde, feisty witch whom had made him question just how many of his antics the student's off this school would take from him.

James waited a few moment's making sure Scorpius' footsteps were gone and done echoing off the wall's before he jolted down the step's again and going in the direction the girl had gone 'Cissa' was her name? He thought that is what Malfoy had called the girl. The name clicked in his mind, Possibly from a story his father had once told him growing up and he knit his eyebrows together in thought, Repeating the name over and over in his head until it was but a mere sound. A sigh of annoyance escaped his lips as he turned into another hall stopping to hide behind the wall to his right as a school of sixth years walked by him discussing what they had done over the summer. Out of the few he children he recognized Lysander and Lorcan Scamander, Luna Lovegood and Ralf Scamander's twin son's going on about some journey to search for some crazy thing he would never bother to find out about, with their parent's they went on over the summer and how daring and adventurous it had been. He waited till they were gone to turn the corner again and continue to search for the girl.

It was about a half hour later when James finally got fed up with the constant switching of the stairs and getting mixed up so much that he found himself standing outside the kitchen being offered lemonade by a nervous house-elf named 'Winky' who wouldn't take no as an answer and started to cry about failing her master again until James finally gave in and took it from her with a heartfelt, 'Thank you'. Which then she ran inside semi-happily and he threw the glass out the winder of the school hearing the shards bounce along the roof as it broke. He reached into his bag pulling out an old worn out piece of parchment, whispering the words to show what it truly hid inside "I solemnly swear I am up to no good" The parchment turned into an old map with the still clear words '"Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers, are proud to present, The Marauder's map".

Prong's, Had been his father, Harry's father, and the man he was named after, James Potter. Moony, Wormtail and Padfoot had been three of his grandfather's best friends, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black. Although only Moony and Padfoot had truly been his friends till death.

James had stolen the map from his father's desk drawer just before his first year at Hogwarts, He had found it sitting in the middle drawer and he couldn't help himself but to take it. He looked down upon it and grinned seeing names of student's wandering the halls, along with a few professors he would rather not run into. He scanned the map for her name, all he needed was the last name 'Malfoy' to appear and he could find her and clear up this whole mess, Piss off her older brother in the process. James' lips curled into a smirk as he looked over the map, suddenly another pair of old drawn shoes started down one of the upstairs hall's with the name "Narcissa I. Malfoy" traveling in small print right behind them. James smirk turned into a grin as he made his way up the staircase, almost getting caught on it while it started to turn before he took a lucky leap over the last step and onto the platform.

"James Sirius Potter!" a girl called out in a thick Scottish accent as she rushed down a flight of stairs onto the same platform he had just jumped to "Are you out of you're bloody mind?" at this moment in time he wished he had just taken a ride on the stairs. "Answer me will you!" Laine Finnigan, his best friend since first year was standing in front of him now with her hands on her hips and her brown hair pushed back into a messy bun. "Laine I would love to stay and chat but-", "James do you -want- Malfoy to hex you? I know where your going and guess what." she raised her eyebrows now crossing her arms over her chest "I'm not letting you leave my sight.". James knew he couldn't easily get by the girl, they were the same height and she was way to many spells ahead of him. She was definitely a tough person to have an argument with "Laine if you love me then you'll let me by." he raised his eyebrows at his best friend.

"If I love you, I will drag you to potions and we will get on with the day and out lives!" she said "and not get involved with the Slytherins!" she pleaded with him and he looked down at the map not seeing Narcissa's name across it any longer he sighed in defeat and looked up to Laine who's brown eye's had a hopeful look in them. "Fine.." her lips flickered into a small grin and she looked to him about to say something before he cut her off "For now." he agreed and some defeat faltered her smile, but she sighed and rolled her eyes turning to walk with him down the hall as he stopped briefly holding his wand to the map and whispering "Mischief managed" to it, watching the same old parchment reappear in his hand, he folded it neatly the way it was before and tucked it between two of the books in his bag. Making his way down the hall to his stubborn best friend.

"You're a pain in the arse" James looked over at her "You know that right?" his eyebrows raised at her questioningly. "If I wasn't one Malfoy's dress shoes would be somewhere unpleasant right now" she said looking over at him with raised eyebrows and a smirk. James took a few minutes to respond unable to think of a playful comeback "Shut up Laine..". bursts of giggles escaped from her lips as she shook her head, her brown locks bouncing around her head she walked into the classroom taking a seat at the right side of the room putting her books down as James sat next to her with his bag, taking out a piece of parchment like everyday and his quill. This was how they continued their hallway conversations, Laine stole the parchment before he could start writing and dipped her quill into the ink and begin to write "You do know, It isn't polite to tell someone to shut up.". "It isn't polite to keep someone from giving an apology," he replied as her ink faded from the page and his reappeared sliding it to her as the lecturing potion's professor turned around to the other side of the class. "You want to apologize?" she scoffed while writing which made him turn and glare to her before trying to peek at the note she continued writing "To a Malfoy? When do you ever chase down a girl to say sorry, better yet a -Malfoy- girl" the note grazed the table and he stared at it for a few minutes before replying with four simple words "I think she's different." Laine looked over once the note was in her hand, the ink fading into nothing as she gave him a look of confusion mixed with some slight shock and looked to her book, not responding the rest of the class. She didn't know what to say to her best friend who never stuck with one girl more than a week. She'd known James for four years now and never had he ever said a girl was 'Different' what the hell did that even mean. She thought to herself as she looked to the professor who was standing at the head of the room droning on about something she had taught herself in the beginning of the week when James had been out doing, whatever he does at night these days and no-one else was around. She was more than happy when the class ended with a short homework assignment on two and half pages of parchment on the subject. She stood up walking towards the exit of the class with James following behind her practically nipping at her heels until they were down the corridor and he walked by her side looking over. "Why didn't you answer me?" he questioned, confused at the lack of her normal wise words, or even her telling him he's crazy. "I truly don't have a response James…" she shook her head scrunching up her face in a sigh as she looked over at him "I think you've gone stark raving, mad" her voice emphasized at the last few words and she looked over at him while walking into the library going to a shelve of books and running her fingers over the old bindings. "Or, you could only have a fascination in her because she is Malfoy's sister and you're father had a rivalry with his father and you two are both to barmy to try and make a truce so you just need more reasons to argue." she looked over at him. "I don't want to make a truce with the prat, I just want to get to know his sister.." He furrowed his eyebrows together while speaking trying to make sense of the words coming out of his mouth, Had he gone mad?. "Maybe you should think about getting him to be able to tolerate you..and I don't think trying to snog or shag his sister is the best plan." Laine made a face of disgust and let out a deep sigh after she spoke.

"I don't want to shag her, Laine!" he let out and exasperated sigh "I already told you she's different from the other girls..". Laine raised her eyebrows "Do I hear the great James Potter the second, eye candy for every girl in Hogwarts to be after." she smirked playfully at him, using a baby voice to finish off her teasing words "Falling for a girl?" leaning on a bookshelf she was grinning wildly at the fact her best friend would ever feel the way she had felt for Lysander last year before they had started dating, and he had constantly mocked her whenever she smiled to him. "Laine if you tell anyone I will personally make you eat slugs." he pointed a finger while he spoke, He should have just kept this all to himself, He sounded like a Hufflepuff saying all this. Laine was right, he was always with another girl by the week why would he want just this one? "Just..forget it." he spat out storming out of the library and towards the Gryffindor common room.

"James, wait!" Laine turned toward him as he ran out going against her better judgment she didn't follow him, If he got more annoyed with her both their temper's could get the best of them. Laine let out a deep sigh pushing off the table she had been leaning, picking up her books and walking out of the grand hall.

It wasn't until she was half-way to the Gryffindor tower when she heard two girls arguing on a lower set of the stairs making her stop on the steps and go silent listening to the two voices the names of the girls automatically filled her mind, Narcissa Malfoy and Zella Zabaini where walking down the steps across from her going down. Her eyes set into a narrow glare as Zella, turned towards Narcissa, her charcoal black hair framing around her mocha skin as she spoke in that harsh whisper she always had while taunting the younger students, never when she was speaking to her best friend. "Narcissa, He's a Potter." her lips turned into a sneer as she formed the name 'Potter' making Laine eyes harden into a glare and quietly wander back down the steps after them. "Maybe he isn't so bad.." Narcissa spoke in a sincere tone "Just because my brother hates him doesn't mean I have to…We could be friends." Narcissa had a sick smile on her face, the kind that when she spoke it made Laine's skin almost crawl, questioning herself if the words she spoke were true or just another sick game. Suddenly Zella stopped walking and looked to her friend almost dumb founded, "Friends?" her mouth formed into a look of disgust "Are you doing this to anger your brother or just give me a heart attack.". Narcissa spun around on her heel and looked to Zella giving her a joking tone only her friend would have understood and smirked a playful smirk "You've figured out my plan, I'm going to use him to piss off my brother and send you to the infirmary. Possibly let Potter think he has a chance with me," both girls started walking again and Zella looked over un-amused with her best friend but unable to hold back a slight chuckle that urged behind her lips.

In more time than they could have blinked the tall, brunette girl was in front of them with her eyes burning into them almost if as she could have melted them into thick puddles on the floor. Quickly as she had come her eye's were strictly burning into Narcissa and she gripped her wand in her hand, pointed at her in fury. Narcissa stumbled back from surprise and the laughter subsided, into the deadly silence of the three girls. "You posh little prick!" she waved her wand at the blonde feeling Zella's eyes glaring at her, Laine could see the wand pointed at her neck and Narcissa had finally pulled her wand out. "Now that you have stated the obvious of what I am, What in Merlin is your problem!" she exclaimed in her normal hateful tone. "Narcissa let's get o-" Zella started until Laine looked at her and called out "Shut your gob, Zabaini!". Zella let an annoyed growl echo out her throat as she fixed her wand straight getting ready to call out 'stupify' towards the brunette when suddenly Narcissa barked out "Zella! Stay out of this!".

Laine looked from Zella to the pale blonde once more "I head what you said about James, If you dare even go near him I won't hold back on trying to feed you to Hagrid's hippogriffs." Laine said protectively of her naive best friend who thought this girl was so different.

"Listen Half-blood, If you weren't butting into conversations you would have never known what I was joking about." Narcissa snapped at her lowering her wand to place her hand on her hip annoyed. "Joking we're yeh?" Laine questioned accusingly at the girl shaking her head "I saw that look on your face." she sent a jab with her wand at her until she felt Zella edge closer to her. "Slytherin's don't know the meaning of joking." with a quick spin of her heel she was turned at Zella "Expelliarmus!" she yelled as Zella's wand flew onto an upper stair case, Laine looked at her "Look's like you dropped something." Zella knew better than to throw a punch at the girl, waiting for Narcissa to send a curse at the brunette until her voice spoke "Zella, go get your bloody wand and learn how to stay out of things will you." her eye's were narrowed as the two shared a glare that would have scared the bravest of Gryffindor before the wandless witch set off with a glare never leaving the back of Laine's head until she was out of sight.

"I wasn't going to use-" Narcissa started her voice was still in a harsh tone but it had lowered slightly almost as if she was ashamed she had said it, more likely ashamed she was caught. "I don't care what you say," Laine snapped at her, at the moment Laine's true colors we're showing and she wasn't that sweet Gryffindor girl that she always was to everyone, she was the girl who hid under the shadow of that one, waiting for the day she would need to surface. "I won't believe you either way, If I just so happen see you even pass James, I will make sure you regret it." before Narcissa could defend herself, the Brunette's hair whipped around her head and she was storming back up from where she had come, her black robes trailing behind her in the action leaving Narcissa alone in the lower hall way's of the school while her best friend was searching for the wand that had been snatched from her grasp. No one had ever spoke to Narcissa in such a challenging tone, not even leaving time for her blood to boil into her own fury and yell how much she didn't care what she said she would do as she pleased. She hadn't been given the time to do that, all she had been given the time to do was stare at a messy bunch of curls as the stormed away from her to tell the boy she had planed on never actually speaking to again every idiotic word that had slipped from her lips. She started to walk down the lonely corrider to the Slytherin dungeons as she thought about how she had watched this boy for the past three years since she had came here run up and down the hall ways to class with or without Laine with a panicked look from being late, or a laugh as an explosion went off with his best friend, the girl who just screamed her ear off, running after him away from the mess and realized she had over looked the feeling of what could have been small butterflies forming in her stomach this whole time. Whenever she had seen him. Was she even supposed to feel like this? Towards any one other than whom her parent's approved? Towards a Gryffindor half-blood? Better yet towards a Potter so much like his father that sometime the teacher's that survived through the year's from Harry's time to theirs, Would call him 'Harry' instead of 'James' only to be corrected by their student's laughs and the realization that this was indeed his son. Narcissa shook her head and sighed hearing the bell for dinner go off, She kept walking to the dungeons as her house mates passed her talking to one another. She was almost to the door when suddenly her brother was at her side "Cissa, It's dinner." He gave her a puzzled look "weren't you and Zella supposed to be headed towards the dinner hall earlier?" he questioned, and she looked at him giving him a weak smile. "I'm not very hungry, I might just head to bed early." Narcissa spoke in a quiet tone she didn't realize she was using until after the fact her brother got a concerned look on his face. Shaking her head she moved past him ignoring his footsteps following her up the hall again and into the common room until she made her way into the girls dormitory and sat on her bed. She truly didn't want to listen to her brothers mouth right now.


	2. Interception

Scorpius stood staring at the door his sister had just walked into, She had never once walked away on him while talking. She was the kind of girl who didn't care if she got the last word in over her brother. Frustrated he turned towards the dining hall again thinking about the events that happened this morning. He hadn't gotten into an argument with James Potter since second year in potions when Forager decided he wanted to put the two together for an class. Potter being the potion master he was instructed Scorpius to put the wrong ingredient from the book into the cauldron. When Scorpius dropped the ingredient into the potion it exploded in dark purple flames, burning his hand to such a state he fainted onto the floor in immense pain, waking up in the hospital wing with his hand wrapped in a cast. Looking down at his left hand Scorpius' eyes traveled over each unique scar he had been left with, no matter what spell was tried they wouldn't fade. He clenched his teeth and fist in unison, those scars made anger boil up inside him whenever he looked at them, Yet they also proved he had a reason to hate the eldest Potter boy.

He pondered over the thoughts rambling throughout his head consistently until he pushed his way past a few Ravenclaw's lingering in the halls their noses all trying to cram each other into one single book. The voices filling the grand hall's walls were almost deafening to the quiet that he had recently been attached to in the hall. Minerva McGonagall sat at the front of the hall, She looked exhausted compared to most of the Professors now there. Whom were bubbling with energy that came with such young ages, Scorpius felt a tinge of guilt strike him towards the old woman. She had been assigned Head Master after she stepped in willingly for the second wizarding war, and had to deal with everything going on from that point.

Sitting down at the Slytherin table, he glanced up and down it looking at old friends and new comers at the table until his gaze fell on the seat next to him where his sister had sat next to him since she had first come, four years ago. Narcissa had always been a little hard headed, stubborn even throughout the years. He had taught her all the things his father had taught him. Draco had made sure his children we're well aware why so many had had lost their lives, He never pushed them to hate Muggle borns or even perhaps half-bloods at that. Aside from what Draco had been taught he bit his tongue and nodded along with Astoria, Scorpius and Narcissa's mother. He didn't want his children growing up with the same hate he had through the years, He didn't want his children to grow up as fast as he had to.

A clatter filled the table as Damien Goyle the son of Gregory Goyle and Jonathan Higgs the son of Terrence Higgs. Sat at the Slytherin table, one directly across from the other. Damien's green tie was crooked and falling from the inside of his vest as he sat by Draco. The boy was a constant mess. "Fix your tie will you," Scorpius rolled his eyes at his dorm mate and close friend "You look like a bloody Gryffindor that way.". Damien glanced down at himself letting out an aware grunt as he fixed his tie so that it was tucked in again still slightly crooked. Jonathan smirked from behind his fork as he shoveled some food into his mouth watching the boy fixing himself. "Having trouble keeping yourself decent for more than an hour are you, mate?" Damien picked up a bun from the plate on the table tossing it at his friends nose leaving crumbs falling over his tanned skin. Scorpius shook his head at them both returning his gaze to his food eating while watching food fly back and forth besides his face. "Will you quit it?" he said both boys stopping what they were doing. "Act your sodding age, will you.".

Flora Carrow's daughter, Athena filled in the seat next to Jonathan silently as she got to the table.

Athena wasn't you're average Slytherin, Her mother had married a pureblood Hufflepuff, Bradley Lundder, Athena had grown up close to her father while her mother left them after she was born. She grew up with a rather soft side and could get along with anyone as long as they got along well with her. Her father had become the assistant in the care of magical creatures class after Hagrid agreed he needed some assistance that could still wrestle and chase the monsters he brought onto the grounds. When She was a small child she was already brought to the school to stay with her father, she didn't attend classes but everyone loved seeing her come out onto the grounds with her father. She was eventually brought into the school fully in Scorpius' second year when she was finally old enough and he and Narcissa were often found outside of classes fooling around in the common room. Nothing can stay the same though.

Scorpius stared at her for a moment when she sat down before averting his gaze to his plate, her brown hair was carefully set into a neat bun still holding a few stray hairs that fell around her neck, she was beautiful without even trying. "Hello, boys." she said unaware of Scorpius' eyes on her, her voice was soft, barely auditable.

She was in the same grade as Narcissa and had often been around her, Somehow along the way he had begun to grow feeling's towards the witch, but he respected the fact that his best mate, Jonathan had fallen for her too. When he looked back up from his plate he realized he had drone out the others, who were now in a full out conversation, voices. He sighed as he pushed his finished plate away looking ahead to his friend who now had his arm around the witch he wanted. Anger and jealousy boiled in the pit of his stomach as he shook his head, waiting for one of his friends conversations to die out.

"Athena..Can I speak with you please?" he raised his eyebrows at the girl who stared at him slightly caught off guard. "Uhm." she paused looking to Jonathan who let out a shrug before shooting a glare to Scorpius, signaling if he tried something with her he would regret it. Athena noticed the glare but she let it slide, she didn't want to know the reason it was being shared. "Sure, Scorpius.." Her eyebrows raised, leaving small wrinkles on her forehead as she moved away from the table and got up from the bench.

Scorpius followed her out walking in silence until they got to the end of the hall when he stopped in his tracks turning his head back and forth looking around. He fixed his robes and looked to Athena who was raising her eyebrows at him, "Well, What's wrong?" she questioned him, her arms folding over her chest. Scorpius could have told her then and there what he had been thinking in the Grand Hall, How beautiful he thought she was, How he wished she was his and not Jonathans. "I need you..." he stopped before he had even started, "I need you to watch, Narcissa. "

"What?.." She scoffed in reply, He had truly gone off his rocker in her opinion. "I know you like to keep her on this short leash you think you can, but I'm not getting invol-"

"Potter might have his eye on her." Scorpius blurted out, He sighed deeply combing his fingers through his pale blond hair as Athena's dark green eyes narrowed at him. "What's the big problem about that?" Scorpius sighed in frustration, he knew he should have asked Zella but it seemed she was already on his side when Narcissa walked back to the dorms alone. Scorpius found his gaze reaching his fist again, the scars still there he looked up seeing her starring at his hand and shook his head "Forget it," He said his jaw clenching tight. "Just get back to your boyfriend, I'm sure he's waiting for you." before Athena could respond Scorpius was traveling down the hall in a semi-speed walk. Anger had boiled up inside him for so many things, He felt he was failing his father left and right as his sister started this school year. During her fourth year, two years ago, she had started going her own way. Instead of staying by her brothers side dependently, she wandered the halls all hours of the night with her friends or the occasional boy who fancied her at the time. He knew his sister was a smart girl but her sometimes questioned to himself if she was making the right choices.

The four poster bed surrounded Narcissa's vision as she laid down onto it, focusing onto the silky green curtains circling around her. She sighed finally feeling at peace to think as the fabric acted as thick walls to anyone who needed her, she fluttered her eyelids closed trying to block out her thoughts and think straight.

Why was she even stressing out over this rubbish? She thought to herself and let out a long exasperated sigh crossing her arms over her face.

She was never going to talk to James again, it had been an accident to begin with, a joke her and Zella had let her best friend hear. Maybe she would talk to him just one time before she cut all the strings to their fifteen second situation that ended in talk when Scorpius told James to stay away from her. She also needed to make it clear to him that she indeed had no interest in falling into James' games.

Sitting up she let her legs dangle from the bed and she pushed the curtins from her face standing up and heading for the door of her small dormitory. A small knock echoed from it when her hand had barely touched the cold bronze handle and she froze slightly. If it was Zella she would be screwed getting into another bloody argument with her right now over the other Gryffindor. If it was Scorpius she could explain right then and there that she could tell him everything she had been thinking. If it was someone else…well she really didn't give a damn she just wanted to get to the desired people whom needed to know her input on everything.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Narcissa?" It wasn't Scorpius or Zella whose voice's filled her ears and she frowned.

"What to you want, Arthur?" she frowned.

"Can you come out here?..please?"

Narcissa shut her eyes tightly leaning her head onto the door making sure to push her hands on it to keep it forced close. She hadn't spoke to Arthur since fifth year when he had tried pushing their relationship to far. "Go away." she hissed at him, partially. There was a knot deep in her chest hearing him sigh and lean on the door "Cissa.." she hated how he said her name "How many times will I have to apologize to you." he spoke, and she quickly snapped back "Until you get it through your thick skull I will never accept your pathetic little apologizes." she kicked the door hard with her foot causing her more pain than she had wanted.

He growled hearing her foot slam into the door and pounded his fist on the wood "Why are you so bloody stubborn!" he yelled through the door.

"Why are you so desperate?" she called back at him "If Scorpius comes back and sees you here he will hex you to next year!" she knew Scorpius liked Arthur, he was a pureblood Slytherin, that was all it took. All Scorpius would see this as was him trying to get her back, it wouldn't be a problem unless he hurt her.

"I don't want that! I just want you back.." he shook the doorknob, he was far stronger than her desperate attempt of holding the door closed and when he pushed on it, it swung open a bit until she slammed it shut again and yelped at the slight scare.

"Go away!" she screeched at him before looking for her wand that was usually stored snugly in her skirts waistband. It was on the other side of the room.

Laine ran into the dining hall, her black shoes screeching to a halt as she stopped next to James who was speaking to his younger brother, Albus. She grabbed ahold of his arm as she sat on the bench "James, We need to talk." "But..I'm trying to eat, can't it wait?" he whined slightly then raised his eyebrows at her in curiosity, her hair was even messier then earlier in the day and she looked mad but worried, this wasn't normal for her.

Standing up they both walked from the grand halls doors watching as Athena Carrow walked inside, her eyebrows furrowed and her arms crossed they started walking to where she had come from taking a few familiar turns till they were in the newly built astronomy tower, when Laine spoke.

"James, You need to stay away from Narcissa," she gulped slightly knowing that there were now lines she couldn't step over with James, their argument earlier in the morning be a very good demonstration to that.

"You called me from dinner for more of this bullshit?" his eyes narrowed and suddenly the tension started to slowly creep into the room, they were both staring at each other, a pair of intense green eyes boring into a pair of sparkling brown, nervously flickering back and forth around the tower. "I have a reason this time.." she whispered best she could without her breath hitching within her throat stopping any sound "I'm not just being pigheaded now. I'm truly worried..I..I had a run in with Narcissa…and her friend.." Laine's jaw clenched at the thought of the girl who had tested her boundaries enough to make her use her wand.

"I don't care about the conflict you have with them! I don't like half of the blokes you hang out with!" he crossed his arms across his chest and she sighed she was going to lose the battle with her best friend again if she didn't just spit it out.

"She'll only use you, James!" Laine started seeing her best friend tense, she started speaking again, he needed to know "You've figured out my plan, I'm going to use him to piss off my brother and send you to the infirmary. Possibly let Potter think he has a chance with me," she recited Narcissa's words with a slightly higher pitched tone similar to Narcissa's. It sounded funny coming from Laine seeing her accent was so thick and she spoke so calmly usually compared to her now nervous speech. "I'm so…so sorry, James." she was frowning deeply, sympathetically at him. "No you're not- " he snapped at her.

James froze mid sentence letting the words sink into his thoughts, run laps around his mind and furrow his eyebrows in frustration as he let out a sound that sounded such as a hiss or groan as he turned around towards the edge of the tower, peering over the edge of it at the creases of the school were shadowed from the night sky. He was barely able to see the outline to the entrance to the forbidden forest, where sounds of small creatures could be so vaguely heard from up at the height. Laine appeared by his side, she had pulled her long sleeves down to cover her balled up hands and she leaned on the edge of the tower only a foot from James who sighed seeing how her arms were shaking and pulled off his jumper holding it out to his silent best friend who glanced over at him moving one of her arms from the railing to take the to big jumper and slip it on, the warmth making her arms stop shaking and her shoulders relax, a whispered 'Thank you' escaped her lips as she glanced over to him with a feeble smile that didn't hold before she rested her head onto her arms.

She pondered over the thought if this was wrong to had told him, he seemed actually upset over it and she couldn't help but feel like she had just hit his owl with a stupefy spell. He deserved to know though, as much of a player as he was he never wanted to hurt anyone, he always just wanted to have a good time, he was a good kid.

"You know…It's kid of fucked up" James finally spoke making Laine glance over again "How you let yourself think you might have a chance… If you try hard enough.." he pushed away from the rails and started making his way back towards the exit of the tower and stuffed his hands into his pants pockets so his thumbs stuck out the sides. "to win them over," he chucked feeling foolish with himself as he took the first stair going down stopping again "When deep down inside, no matter how much they can make time stop, or how different they seem from the rest...how different they make you feel, in such a short period of time.." James started trailing away from the rest of his thought and Laine looked at him with interest, James would have been the last person in the school to tell how he felt about someone, whom he had talked to only once by a mistake at that, to anyone, even Laine. "Yet, deep down inside you know you must be losing you're bloody mind to think that someone like them would even associate with you." his head shook making his hair shake around and he took a few more steps down the narrow stair case he got to the bottom as Laine was barely halfway to the middle taking slow steps from her best friend not knowing how to respond without setting him off at her again when he turned and looked up at her, the torches on the wall making an orange glow of light dance on his face, time had passed at the time in the astronomy tower, Prefects were wandering the halls ushering young student's to bed or chatting with Ghosts of the houses. "I'll see you in the morning, Laine… more likely sometime in the afternoon.. Goodnight." he didn't wait for a response as he walked down the hall way letting his robe trail behind him.

Narcissa had half fallen asleep leaning against her dorms door, she had broken into silent tears after an argument between her and Arthur earlier in the night and he hadn't left until a few minutes ago when Scorpius had come up to check on her and found him talking through the door to Narcissa who had refused to respond to him. Scorpius had told him to leave for now and that he would talk to her about it, she had probably just still felt Ill. He was now sitting in front of her leaned up against the wall next to the stair he was perched on look to Narcissa who had red puffy eyes. "He wouldn't leave.." she whispered to her brother, he looked tired and she felt horrible for keeping him awake with this petty little problem, he would be graduating next year and wouldn't be by her side then, She, in a way couldn't wait. "Cissa, he really does love you I think.." Scorpius said back to her.

"I doubt it.."

"Why?" his eyebrows furrowed.

"You know why…" her cheeks flushed red, she had run crying to her brother two years ago over the incident.

"I think he grew up a bit more."

"No! he didn't!" she yelled back, her quiet voice sounding so scratched by this that Scorpius sighed deeply knowing he wasn't going to get her to agree this easily. "You should give it another go…a second chance" Scorpius didn't believe in second chances at all, they were rubbish, but he wanted her to be away from James as much as she could. He would speak to Arthur about multiple things he couldn't to do with his sister. "Second chances are for fools." Narcissa replied to him and frowned deeply, "You taught me that."

"Ever think one of my lessons might be wrong?" Scorpius tilted his head raising his other eyebrow with a convincing grin, mischievously flickering to a smirk for a moment as Narcissa let out an amused smile and looked over from her robes to him, bringing the heel of her hand to her eyes and wiping her eyes again. "Did you just suggest you were wrong?"

"I might have, but it wont happen again."

"You being wrong will, admitting to it I can't argue with that."

"Don't get cocky," he chuckled as she jabbed him in the ribs with her finger and stood up from the hard floor, her shining gray eyes gaining some sparkle back into them as she laughed at her older brother and fixed her robes tiredly. "I'll speak with him in the morning.. But only because you admitted to possibly being wrong for once." she started into her room, having an unsure feeling in her gut automatically regretting her words. Her hand leaned on the edge of the door itself as Scorpius stood up proud of himself that he had practically gotten her out of James Potters grasp for now, even if she was unhappy for a few days he was sure that James would find another witch to chase for his own amusement, that wasn't his younger sister. After that he would gladly get her away from the other boy and she would bury herself back into her studies, She would walk around the school again with Zella and Athena tailing behind her like to lost puppies, but at the moment when his thoughts were so crowded with the thoughs of them he didn't realize that his sister had just closed the door of her dorm and slipped into her pajamas while he walked down towards his dorm that she felt like the lost puppy this time, she had no clue what she was supposed to do tomorrow when morning rolled around and she walked up to the one wizard who had ruined her opinion on most boys, who had broken her heart and made her turn away when a boy she fancied walked by her.

Narcissa curled up under her covers thinking about what she hadn't realized when she had seen James, that without even talking he had made her laugh.

That's what Narcissa Malfoy secretly loved the most.

To laugh

AN: I know this is short and not as good as the last chapter but I'm exhausted right now and I truly don't feel well today. I hope you enjoyed this if you read it.

I would very much appreciate reviews if you have time or feel like it J

If you have any questions about the story so far also I will gladly answer it for you. J


	3. All was dangerous

James had left the astronomy tower headed towards the Gryffindor tower, that was until he was diverting his footsteps towards the statue he had charmed to move so many times, that he could now just let his wrist flick and it would move out of his way. He stepped through the darkened passageway and let out a deep sigh as he heard the stone statue once again slide into place.

"Lumos." he whispered, and the low blue shining light showing the path only a few steps ahead of him came into a barely visible view as he moved silently down the narrow corridor once more. The chill of the walls were causing Goosebumps to form onto his skin and he wished he had gone and got another jumper, but there was no time now. In fifteen minutes the prefects would be wandering the halls together in pairs to make sure everything was in tip-top shape and no students were caught having some late night fun, things had started buckling down again recently after dark. James worried quite often over this but knew it couldn't be anything too serious, Probably just someone pulling to many pranks or taking one to far. He shook his head as a cool breeze that flowed up the corrider reminded James that he was almost to the exit and would need to find the brick he had loosed for the invisibility cloak he had 'borrowed' from his younger sister, who had 'borrowed' it from her father. Grazing his hand over the stones of the wall the rough edges gave his fingers a momentary numbness until his fingers were shaking away the lose stone, his wand caught between his teeth blinding his right eye. The feel of the stone clattering into his hands spooked him slightly making him almost fall over for not picking it up right.

He reached his hand into the open space of the wall and felt around the cold damp space that was making him shiver until the silky material was grasped in his palm and he was pulling his arm back to his side and throwing the cloak over his shoulder. Picking up the stone once more and pushing it back into it's space he grinned to himself and turned away from it and pulling his wand from between his teeth. He moved his tongue around his mouth running it over his teeth and scrunching up his lips as he tried to get the wooden taste from his mouth.

The damp air made him realize he was outside before his eyes registered the new, yet somehow familiar surroundings. Every night he would come out here and wander in aimless directions for hours, It was truly pointless to why he did it, but he felt something calling to him, not within hearing but somewhere deep inside of him, and somehow every night it got him into coming out, rain, sun, or snow to search the grounds. Half the times he had almost gotten himself killed by one of the creatures that found 'safety' inside the woods from another beast, yet he somehow always managed to get away.

There was something he was looking for, he just wished he knew what it was so he could stop this mad search of his. This was his last year at the school and if he didn't find it he felt as if he could go mad with curiosity, with an ever longing want. He felt his ears twitch at how silent the forest was, aside from the snore of a nearby monster to deep in sleep to hear his footfall he felt alone, there wasn't the sound of distant footfall that made him jump from his skin when he least expected it, or the sound of hushed whispers as campers snuck out bravely in the night air away from the castles safety.

James felt his stomach turn slightly, his common sense and worry that had been trapped by his desires had now flooded through his thoughts and reminded him that this wasn't a good idea, this was past the stupidity of his normal actions and he looked to the sky before his surroundings and slowly his heart felt as if it were hitching up into his throat. He had gone farther than he had wanted to, farther than he had ever let his feet lead him. Where was he? This thought had now blended into the rest as he tried to take in his shadowed surroundings, there were very few things he could make out as his feet moved a bit faster into the woods and felt his shoe get lodged underneath a rooted up tree stump. As he fell to the dirt around him he groaned slightly in pain and his panic of his surroundings slowly faded away as he pushed himself into a sitting position, the pain in his leg wasn't terrible but it was still there. Pulsing against his bone, as if a boxer was taking rancorous swings at his opponent, and it bloody hurt.

Somehow along the trip James had lost his wand in the small clearing, he cursed out loud at himself at how he had done this. How would he ever find his wand in the dark. His attention turned back to his wounded leg and he sat himself up with a long perturb sigh escaping his lips. His hands had now been covered with speckles of cold wet soil that wouldn't budge from his hands. James tried to skim his hands across each other before giving up as the dirt only stuck onto his cold hands, he dragged them over the bottoms of his pants trying to get as much off his arms as he could.

The fall to the ground had caused him to become filthy and he looked around again just as the moon started to shine its light through the shedding fall branches, Illuminating the golden- green tinted leaves that wind and dying stems had caused to fall to the ground. He could barely make out what seemed to be a fairly few sized sticks and braches that might be his wand, or just another useless stick.

He wished he could apparate, but he knew that the barriers would never let him and he didn't want to find out what would happen if he tried. He continue to let swears slip from his mouth as he stood up from the ground using his hands to push him up and he tried to stand on his injured ankle but the same severe pain radiated up his leg and he automatically pulled up his hurt foot and looked around trying to distract him from the pain.

"Accio wand!" he called out in numerous agitated whisper yells, demanding the wand to take place in his hand until he was hit with a blue flashing light, sending him flying back into a tree. The pain from his ankle was nothing to what his spine now felt. Everything in his head was becoming cloudy as cackles filled the air from an unannounced source and he groaned at them. 'What just happened' he thought to himself as the rhythmic beat started to mellow behind his eardrums to a softer version. Footsteps could now be heard through the sodden leaves. He could barely make out a figure of a few people, to big to be children yet to small to be adults.

A raspy voice spoke first through the air, "Well, well, If it isn't the eldest Potter boy." his voice sounded like nails on a chalk board to James' aching head and he almost passed out right then and there. Did he know this voice? He recognized it somehow. He just wish he knew how. The shadow of a hidden smile marked across his attackers face as he was lifted to the air without a wand and thrown across the clearing into another tree.

The white spots that had just cleared from his eyelids now speckled across them in a violent paint show. So many thoughts were filling his mind as red sticky blood flowed down the back of his neck. Pain was covering his dirt covered body as an object jabbed into his side and he let out a groan and did his best to roll off it while the others were trying to figure out where he had just been tossed, the moon was shifting slowly and the light was fading from the clearing as James gripped the object that had stuck into his side. His wand.

For once the dark felt safe to him, If he couldn't be found yet they couldn't hurt him anymore. He could have hexed them away, but if they were students he didn't want to get in more trouble then he already would be, if he had been attacked and unable to defend himself he might get off easy. That was if he didn't get himself killed first that was.

A few more cackles filled the longing silence, burning through James' mind before another crack of spells broke out from an unknown direction. More of them. Is the only thing that could fill his mind at the moment and it stirred an uneasy feeling in his stomach, making it feel like his insides were trying to cram into each other in panic. Thoughts rambled on in his skull.

His mother and father would find him struck dead by someone.

He would never be able to apologize to Albus for stealing the first girl he liked.

He would never be able to protect Lily from blokes like himself.

That's when his Gryffindor stupidity started to kick in, and he pushed himself from the ground best he could between stumbling and the multiple pains from being thrown about by his attackers. Feeling his way along the trees he tried to make his way towards the colored flashes of spells being sent back and forth in sync so that there was always a distinctive grunt, growl or howl of pain from a certain person and by the sound of the most repeated, someone was losing horribly and quickly.

His eyes peered around the corner, weary of his slowed actions as he took another step trough the darkness, the flashes started to become brighter as they pierced his aching head with every cast, and the furious voices became louder. As he peered to the fight he could easily make out a small female, it was to dark to tell anything but the obvious, the only thing that pointed to this was her small frame. She was dangerously close to her attacker. He spells were emerging from her wand at a faster rate than the male that had turned his attack from James to her could, he words were vigorous and harsh, her had moving in such an agitated rate that James had lost his train of thought standing there in amazement.

That was until her attacker sent a 'crucio' spell at her, making her spell now seem like an Expelliarmus charm.

That was when the girls train of thought broke and she was sent flying to the ground in a writhing pain, her body jerking around and her loud piercing cry broke James' attention and he lunged at the tall male, his body colliding with the other one knocking him to the ground sending new spears of pain through the wounded parts of his body.

James somehow managed to pin the attacker to the ground and hold him down enough so his wand was being thrusting into the mans throat so hard he started to choke and squirm from under him as James' raspy voice now filled the air, the only other noises around him being the girl across the field scuffling in what sounded to be pain and grunts from the man he was holding down.

But his energy was slowly draining out from the nights events and he needed to see if the girl was alright.

"Immobulis!" he yelled out so that his spell shot through his wand and into the attackers throat, leaving an struggle he had left is his body in a frozen, somewhat frantic motion. Making James smirk in amusement, it turned out actually going to class could be affective these days aside from roaming around the school with Teddy doing something that seemed more enjoyable than listening to the older dust bags who taught him.

Another low groan broke through the air and James looked over at the girl who was now standing against a tree holding her arm in pain. The spell was difficult enough for a body to deal with, but the power of it behind the mans voice had made it stronger. Now her arm was off at an odd angle that made James' hurt ankle seem like a bump from walking into a wall.

James' pushed himself off the other man who would be lying still for a few more hours, hopefully long enough for him to be able to get McGonagall to find him and handle it. He was making his way over to the girl who had practically saved him as her head shot up in a quick speed, her movement terrified to the boy who had stopped the other. She started to stumble back holding her injured arm gingerly and gripping her wand her shaking hands could barely hold. "Let me help you.." James' voice whispered as he made his way closer to her with an extended hand. "Get away!" she screamed nervously, she didn't want him to know who she was, better yet she didn't want anyone to know who she helped.

"You're hurt..Just let me he-" James' started once more, he was now starting to worry that the girl was suffering from some kind of metal injury due to the spell.

"I can handle myself!" The girl stumbled a few times more as she let a few helpless wimpers of pain escape up her throat and past her stuttering lips. "J-Just get back to the castle!".

"I'm not going to leave until you do." He was now keeping his distance from her "You need help with your arm," he motioned to the oddly bent bone "it's broken."

That was when she took off running to the castle in stumbles and almost falls, before James could help her, before he could find out who she was.

Before she got tangled up in anything that could get her tangled up more in her already to be announced death wish.


	4. Recovery

The rest of the week was blurry to James, When he finally stumbled back onto the castle grounds the sky was slowly fading from the pitch dark black it had been when he entered. The woods had livened up when he walked out of it as some of the birds that took home to the trees chirped at the on coming morning. He had walked, well limped actually into the castle and towards the common room hopping that Laine could help him heal his hurt leg and the rest of him but without a chance of luck Filtch and his bloody cat had found him sneaking in that early morning and dragged him by the ear painfully towards Headmistress McGonagall's office. She had then dragged him to the infirmary giving him a lengthy lecture about how if she ever caught him sneaking in he would have highly unsought punishment.

"Headmistress I swear I was only cur-" James tried to explain to the old witch but she wouldn't budge. She only put her free hand to her lips making a 'shushing' sound towards him.

"Mr. Potter, This is you're final year at this school. I would think that you would have out grown this tomfoolery and begin to think of life as a responsible young adult would by studying for your O.W.L's" she gazed over at the young boy following beside her with a stern look. The wrinkles on her forehead creased together as James looked back to her from the floor. He thought about telling her what had happened out in the woods but he knew if he did there would be a lot my explaining to be done.

"What fun with that be?" he questioned as he counted the bricks on the wall they were passing, old witches and wizards in painting's watching them with such interest if they could have they would have fallen through the frame. "Study, study, study." he chuckled slightly as McGonagall let out a sigh.

"Just like your grandfather." she stated keeping her eyes on him with interest. "He saw thing's that way, and still made his way to be as talented as he was." she looked ahead at the hospital wing that was a few feet away and looked over at James. "If I find you out on the castle ground's again this late without a reason, It will be detention and I will contact your parents, keep that in thought." she nodded and turned around walking to the end of the hall and out of James' sight.

The conversation went round in James' head for the next few days, having a debate with the thought of his inquiringness to know what was in the woods. He groaned as a headache started to come shaking through his skull and a bone in his leg snapped back into place next to another from the potion the night witch had given him and he sat back down pushing his head into the pillow. "Fuck." he muttered just as his vivacious best friend walked into the room with a slight spring in her step as his leg straightened more.

"Do you have to use such acrimonious language?" she questioned her pained best friend as she sat at the edge of his bed.

"Do you have to use words I don't know the meaning of?" he retorted with another question, bitterly as he lifted his head from the pillow showing his tousled bed head "What'dya want Laine? If it's more work from my class tell them to-"

"You're such a crab." she announced at him while holding out a chocolate frog in a box with raised eyebrows "I came to just see how you were." she dropped the treat on his stomach and stood up "but I see you are cranky so I'll-"

James stopped her with a sigh as he rubbed his forehead sitting up fully as the pain in his leg started to null down to something bearable "I'm sorry, I'm just spent, my leg keeps me up half the night lately while it goes into place." Laine sat down next to him again with a nod and looked around at the hospital wing.

"I can tell you haven't slept." she nodded at him looking over "and not just because you look like you got your arse beat." James raised his eyebrows at he questionably and she smirked at him "When you're tired you act like a big baby."

Within a few day's after James was back on his feet and walking through the halls on time to his classes. He knew that if he could keep himself busy and his thoughts from wandering her wouldn't think of the woods or what had happened to him. He had started doing his homework and wandering around inside the castle walls with his cousins and Laine after hours seeing now they were all keeping a close eye on him, wondering themselves what there older cousin was possibly getting himself into.

"So what really happened last week?" his cousin Victoire's voice filled the hallways as she enquired him about the night, making his thoughts twitch over his longing to go into the woods.

"I think it was one of Hagrid's beast's, it must've broke out of it's cage and thought I was it's next meal.." James furrowed his eyebrows together. "I sent a curse at it when I was able to reach my wand and-"

"Liar." The shorter blonde snapped at him while keeping her gaze on the painting's occupants going throughout various activities, Her tone of voice caught James of guard and she looked over at him with raised eyebrows. "I know because you weren't the only one hurt."

"Who else was found hurt?" he asked, his eyes gleamed of inner curiosity of finding out what girl had helped him. He felt like he owed her, he knew he did and until he could figure out how he could repay her a thank you would have to be enough for now.

"Can't say." his cousin nodded her head at him and looked over at him. "Because I don't know. I heard professor McGonagall talking about her needing a potion when I went to see you." The young girl shrugged her shoulders and walked a bit faster as if to get away from the questions her cousin had to ask her.

"Why wouldn't she just go to the infirmary.." James frowned questioning her and himself at the same time as his eyebrows furrowed close together in unison.

Victoire shrugged and looked over at him with a smirk "Maybe she didn't want to have to look at your face everyday until she healed." It took a few seconds for the insult to click to James before they both took off down the hall, Victoire making her way away from James' chase.

Narcissa looked at her brother as he sat at the other side of the sullen green couch, frowning and looking at the tiles with a harsh glare. Looking down at her hands she fidgeted with her robes and adverted her gaze to anything but him. He was mad at her, it would only last a few more hours but it was still bothering her. "I don't understand why you're giving me the cold shoulder." she announced finally, as the silence between them became deafening.

"I don't understand why you so such stupid things he said as he glanced down at the cast covering a good portion on her injured arm and he scoffed. "A broom." he shook his head back and forth slowly "If you had gotten hurt worst mom and dad would have had both our heads."

"Is that all you're worried about? Mom and dad finding out?" she raised her eyebrows and stood up starting to make her way up the dorm stairs, quickly being followed by her older brother who had wished he had chose better wording.

"I worry more about the fact if you had fallen differently out there you could have snapped your neck!" He shouted a little to loudly at her "Have you forgotten that can't just be fixed by a healing charm." he stopped walking as he was a few footsteps behind her letting her walk the rest of the steps up to the girls dorm where Zella appeared at the entrance with crossed arms over her chest with a skittish looking Athena hovering behind her in curiosity "What is going on now?" The mocha skin girl questioned at the older blonde boy as she narrowed her eyes, letting Narcissa walk through the door. Zella had started standing up for her friend more often as her brother had been taking things slightly to a ridiculous level of protection.

"She's being daft about her arm, and the broomstick situation." Scorpius scowled at the girl as he took a few steps back down towards the common room again.

"She isn't six years old anymore, Scorp. You can't control her life, You aren't your father." Zella turned away from the door as she started to walk into the dorm just as Athena appeared at the door looking down at the blonde, her sparkling brown meeting his soft storm cloud gray eyes before she looked at Zella mumbling something about how she thought the cast could come off by now. Zella nodded and turned towards Scorpius one last time.

"I'm trying to keep her from doing something stupid, Apparently my past efforts weren't good enough though." he waved his hand in a swishing motion at the door and mumbled as he moved down the stairs to the main floor with louder footsteps than needed.

"He is such an idiot." Narcissa announced as she started to pick at her cast with the end of a letter opener on her side table. Zella walked over and ripped it from her grasp as the two shared a friendly glare that was only intended anger from Narcissa to Scorpius and she looked down at her arm with a scowl.

"We've know this for years I thought." Zella agreed with her close friend as Athena sat next to the blonde, her wand in her hand as she slowly enchanted the cast to enlarge and slip from Narcissa's arm, Narcissa smiled at her a whispered a thank you. "I mean he is the same boy who tried to convince your mother to have you home schooled after his second year to keep you from getting into trouble."

Narcissa scoffed as she though of it and just shook her head, twisting her wrist around so that her arm got some movement as she did so. "I can't wait until he leaves. He act's like he want's what's best for me and then act's like this!" she waved her hand at the door and winced as she put to much force into it and rubbed her bad arm looking to her two friends.

"Smooth move." Zella smirked and avoided a swing from her friends leg as she backed away just in time. "What are you going to do about it?" she questioned her blonde friend as a look of thought crossed over her face and she looked down at her arm.

"Whatever I want to do." Narcissa nodded before she walked over towards her four poser bed and took of her robe leaving the rest of her school clothing on before she laid down on her bed closing the green curtains hiding her away in her own personal space away from her two friends that now had their eyebrows raised curiously.

The sun was rising slowly outside the window that Zella and Narcissa were leaning by and the design of the window's glass was shadowed onto the floor. Everything was quiet and peaceful this early and the only thing that was seen was teachers preparing for their classes and a few students who like the two girls liked the quiet hours of the morning. A pair of arms snaked their way around Narcissa's waist and she jumped slightly, Zella's face scrunching up showing freely announced disgust. "Can we help you?" she spat looking at the brunette boy who's lips had sprouted a smirk that hovered over her best friends hair.

Narcissa made a face as she saw the reflection of Arthur in Zella's harsh eyes and she made an attempt to move away from him. He snaked his arms a bit tighter pulling her closer. "What?" he questioned raising his eyebrows at her "I can't say good morning to my gorgeous girlfriend?"

"Not when I'm with her and every time I see your face I want to vomit in my mouth." she stated not caring about his reaction, "I would rather look at the Weasley boy than you. Narcissa smirked and bowed her head to hide it, secretly wishing he would move away at the comment but he just released her from his arms and pointed a finger at Zella "Watch it Zabini." he snorted at her, "Your face isn't a patch of roses either."

"Enough." Narcissa hissed as she turned to the boy that was behind her and narrowed her eyes at him, her soft gray eyes turning cold as she moved next to her best friend momentarily whispering that she would catch up with her soon and that she had something to deal with, as her still hash eyes darted towards Arthur again and Zella looked towards her cautiously. "I've got it Zella." the blonde nodded as her friend looked to the two and slowly walked off with reluctant footsteps.

"Why is she always such a bitch?" Arthur narrowed his eyes at the girl as she walked away, moving closer to Narcissa ignoring her attempt to move away from him. He wrapped his arms around he and grinned as he turned her around slowly to lean in towards her lips slowly to meet his until a hand was covering his preventing the connection and Narcissa pushed away from him breaking the hold he had around her leaving him dumbstruck. "Don't touch me." she snapped at him, the anger she didn't have when she was younger boiling up inside her as she crossed her arms over her chest glaring at him "and don't you -dare- insult my friends." she barked at him making the silent halls echo and a student down to hall take a sudden turn leaving it. Arthur's eyebrows furrowed as he moved closer to her until she was backed into a wall near the window, her eyes still fixed in a hard glare as she moved her hand to push his chest again and make him move until his hand wrapped tightly around her wrist.

"Where is this coming from?" he questioned her, an amused look filling his blue eyes. He leaned his free hand on the wall beside her head and some of the fire left her eyes slowly as she realized the situation she had gotten herself into. Narcissa tried to move her wrist away from it but it was a useless attempt at the fact he was stronger than her and the wrist he had grabbed was weaker due to being in a cast. "It's coming from the fact I have no interest in being with you." She annunciated to him with a slight shake in her voice as she reached for her wand her action being caught by the corner of his eye and he took it from her pocket and tossed it on the ground.

"We're going to talk like normal people about this," he hissed at her and she scoffed loudly letting a laugh rise up from her throat.

"Normal people are we now? She motioned with her head at her wrist he had grasp on and his hand by her head. "This is far from normal." she spat at him and squirmed at his grip.

"You'll run away if I let go." he scoffed and looked at her, "You're the one who agreed to try this again."

"I made a deal to try for my brother." she announced and narrowed her eyes at him, "but now I'm remembering how much of an arse you were last time, I guess some people never change do they."

James yawned loudly, over exaggerating his actual tiredness as Rose Weasley dragged him through the Hallway in her Ravenclaw robes that were to long for her dragging along on the floor. "Why are we up so early?" He asked and rubbed his eyes tiredly looking around the hallways at how dead they were. "This is what time normal people wake up to go to classes, They don't usually skip the first two." she answered him as she walked along the hall hitching her books up her arm more so that she could be in a more comfortable position.

"Well, Normal people are insane than." James looked around as they passed the windows to the courtyard and looked at the sky pointing out the window as he stopped walking making Rose pass him going up the hall "The birds aren't even awake yet, What does that tell you." The redhead rolled her eyes as she turned a corner.

James ignored her and walked into the courtyard looking around as the dew from the morning grass clinged to his shoes, he watched as an owl swooped down and made it's way through the castle and up towards the bowler where it belonged. Looking around James decided that if Rose didn't come looking for him again he would spend the first two classes here, who would possibly think James Potter was hanging out with an old tree. He snickered and started making his way over towards the benches that had been set out there until her heard a girls voice from the other entrance to the court yard and turned his attention towards that direction raising his eyebrows and slowly taking footsteps towards the voices.

"Let go of me!" The girl spoke first, loud enough for it to come clearly into James' mind.

"We can work this out." the boy who had been talking to her answered.

"It's over! I'm done." she stated, assertiveness filling her voice.

".?" he looked over as his thoughts broke away from the other conversation and he looked over to his busy redheaded cousin that was now grasping the bottom of his arm with her free hand "mind your own business, James!" she whispered as she gave his arm a tug back before he pulled away from her shushing her and walking towards the door and inside of the castle again.

James' gaze fell to a Slytherin boy who was in Albus' class that was holding the blonde that he had run into the other day, The one who had almost gotten him into a fight with his best friend. He could have walked away remembering what Laine had told him about her, and the fact the Rose now stood just outside the door motioning for him to come back outside. Instead he turned to the two of them and crossed his arms over his chest and cleared his throat gaining their attention and a acrimony glare from the boy. "Do we have a problem here?" he motioned to the boys had on Narcissa's wrist and the one leaned on the wall with raised eyebrows, feeling something in the pit of his chest faintly making him return the glare.

"Mind your own business, Gryffindor." Arthur snapped at the other boy as he moved away from Narcissa keeping a still tight grip on her wrist.

James took a step forward before Rose who had reached her hand out to grab him could stop him "I'm making it my business now, So why don't you let go of her and listen to what she said." the boy scoffed and chuckled looking over at him.

"What are you going to do about it?" he smirked at him with a Mephistophelian grin "Tell your famous daddy?"

"Stop it both of you!" both girls said at once as they stepped in-between the two, Narcissa ignoring the way it twisted her wrist and Rose ignoring the fact that she had a small regret of stepping into this.

"There is no need for this, James we have to get to class." Rose spoke to him in an agitated whisper "If her brother get's here and see's this he can do enough damage."

The hall slowly started to fill with student's only a few at a time, some turning their attention to the group that wouldn't be likely seen together. A few stopped completely pretending to have a conversation but obviously being nosey.

"James, listen to your cousin and go." Narcissa frowned looking at him and nodded her head not wanting to drive any more attention to the situation. All James did when she said this was stare at her for a moment before moving Rose out of the way.

"I'm not going not do that.." his eyes met hers and he frowned slightly "Some of us do have a heart when it comes to other's." suddenly his body twisted and he balled up his fist sending a clear punch into Arthur's nose causing him to release Narcissa's wrist who as soon as this happened moved away from the boy's arm span. The other boys arms flung over his nose as a clear snap was heard and Rose flinched, James shook out his hand and pointed to the boy across from his with an annoyed glace. "Except you" he stated looking at him and hiding a smirk "You seem like a dick.".

"Potter!" another's voice echoed from the end of the halls and everyone's heads turned to look as Narcissa and Rose's eyes both widened and James narrowed his eyes. "What do you think you're doing!" Scorpius yelled at him gesturing to Arthur and getting ready to pull his wand out.

"Scorpius, No!" Narcissa made her way over to her brother and James and stood between the two so that she was facing Scorpius. "Siria Narcissa Is-" he started as he reached out to push her out of the way again to get to James, finally having a reason to hex him.

"Listen to me you stubborn mule!" she said as she kept her ground in front of her brother. "Just for once!"


End file.
